ICAS Practice Conference 2024 Speakers
ICAS Practice Conference: Navigating the future
Meet our speakers
Richard Sergeant, Managing Director, Principle Point
Richard works with software companies, international associations and media organisations to try and help them better understand and communicate with accountants. Although not an accountant, he sits on the side of the profession to drive better empathy and ultimately better products and services that can be used to build and sustain profitable practices.
Rachel Harris, Founder of accountant_she and strive Limited
Rachel Harris is disrupting what it means to be an accountant, a business owner and an employer in 2024. She is a TEDx speaker, Forbes contributor, content creator, author, business owner and most importantly... an accountant! As the official accounting personality of the year 2023 & breakout star of the year 2023, Rachel adds value to her audience of 90,000 by creating completely free long and short form content delivering financial education! She is passionate about free financial education for everyone, she is the founder of @accountant_she, her £1m firm striveX accountants, strive audit, striveX consulting and striveX mortgages.
Fraser Peebles, Business Development Manager, FreeAgent
Fraser is a Business Development Manager for award-winning cloud accounting software provider FreeAgent. He works with FreeAgent’s accountant partners throughout Scotland supporting them with the adoption of software and showing the efficiencies that can be achieved.
Billie Mcloughlin, Practice Consultant, 2020 Innovation
Billie Mcloughlin ACCA specialises in helping firms maximise their potential, through optimising the framework around their team, technology and processes. Billie has 13 years’ experience in professional practice, including acting as ‘cloud champion’ and the internal business development lead. This experience is put to great use in her role as Practice Consultant for 2020 Innovation. She is also the chair of 2020 Innovation’s ‘Tech Talk’ which aims to support practices throughout their digital transformation and beyond, helping firms get the most out of their current software and identify opportunities to use additional systems (including Artificial Intelligence) to grow further.
Saskia Cochrane, Head of Attraction for Employer Branding and Early Talent, Wiser
Saskia Cochrane joined Wiser in 2018 where she single-handedly set up the Wiser Academy - their award-winning campus ambassador programme - supporting the early careers recruitment teams of brands including Fidelity International, L’Oréal, Sainsbury’s and Bain and Company with their early careers attraction. During her time leading the Attraction Team she has built bespoke programmes for PwC and Deutsche Bank. Her skill set also includes the ability to organise and deliver large-scale attraction events for clients, having delivered campaigns for EY, UBS, Maven Securities, Unlocked and most recently Barclays and the NHS. Saskia has been invited to speak at conferences such as the IHR and round table events - providing her expertise on Gen-Z talent preferences and priorities and advising on how companies should build their strategies with these in mind.
Gavin Spencer, Managing Director, Beach Accountants
Gavin Spencer BA FCCA started his award-winning firm in 2010 and now has a team of 16. In 2018 the firm went completely digital, creating the flexibility for the practice to evolve with sustainability at its heart. They are a 2021 Accountancy Excellence Award winner and a Community Impact on Sustainability Finalist in the 2024 Xero Awards. Gavin believes that accountants will play a big part in saving the planet using their position as trusted advisors to advise our clients to do the right thing. With a deep understanding oof the numbers and analysis work we are able to illustrate the changes and impact our clients can make in becoming more green focused.
Chris Campbell, Head of Tax (Tax Practice and Owner Managed Business Taxes), ICAS
Chris Campbell CA CTA ATT joined ICAS in September 2022 and has spent his 20 year career working in tax issues affecting Owner Managed Businesses. He is Secretary to the Owner Managed Business Tax Committee, supports members in practice with technical queries, co-ordinates the tax articles for the ICAS Technical Bulletin and presents regular webinars. As ICAS lead for Making Tax Digital, Chris has helped shape UK tax policy in this area through representing member interests at the forum and attendance at co-creation sessions to work with HMRC and other external stakeholders to find solutions to practical challenges that Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment (MTD ITSA) will bring. In addition, Chris represents ICAS on HMRC stakeholder groups on basis period reform, the Issues Overview Group, Agents Digital Design Advisory Group, Penalty Reform Forum and the Additional Needs Working Group.
